


Cheat

by DearLazerBunny



Series: Carry On, Simon [3]
Category: Carry On - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-03-27 21:43:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13889718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DearLazerBunny/pseuds/DearLazerBunny
Summary: Micah’s last frat party doesn’t go so well





	Cheat

_And I like to think I can cheat it all to make up for the times I’ve been cheated on_

-Carry On, FUN.

I can’t believe what I’m hearing.

“I was drunk, it was late… it just happened.”

“It just happened? Things like that don’t just _happen_ , Micah. You don’t slip and fall and accidentally put your tongue in someone’s mouth!”

“Penny-”

“No, just- just shut up.” I drop the phone down on the bed without hanging up, leaving his voice muffled from landing facedown on my comforter. I can’t believe this. This is _Micah_ , steady, reliable Micah, Micah doesn’t do things like this-

Except apparently he does.

He says it was a party. A frat party. How typical. And there was booze- there’s _always_ booze Micah, that’s never bothered you before- and girls- there’s _always_ girls, Micah, you know that- and it was late and too much in his system and-

So many excuses. So many.

So many different ways to say ‘I didn’t mean to snog that girl, it just happened.’

Christ.

I look down at my pjs- an old, ratty t-shirt from Watford, plus bottoms that have some nail polish stains on the thighs. I can’t see in the mirror, but I know my hair is a mess like always. The blue I spelled it has done nothing to tame the frizz. My nose is too big and my glasses make me look bug-eyed.

I bet she didn’t look like that, when he kissed her. I bet she was as pale as Agatha, and had straight blonde hair and blue eyes and skinny hips. I bet she was just the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen in his life, and he just had to have her. The girlfriend a country away probably wouldn’t mind, right? Because it was late. And he was drunk. And there were girls.

“Micah?”

“Penny.” He sounds desperate. He should be.

“I-” To my horror, I feel tears pricking at my eyes. “I don’t know what to say to you.”

“Penny I am so, so sorry. It just- nothing like this has ever happened-”

“Well Christ Micah I should hope not!” I’m close to throwing my phone again, but mom would kill me if I cracked the screen. “How many other times have you almost kissed another girl, only to think, hmmm, maybe that one girl might mind, better not?”

Radio silence.

I hear him swallow over the phone, and he whispers, “just this once.”

Just this once.

“What a relief. So proud of you, babe. Really. What an accomplishment.”

“You don’t have to be rude-”

“No, Micah! I get to say my piece!” I take a breath. “How would you feel if I called you up on a Sunday night and told you I accidentally caught myself snogging Baz on his break?”

“…isn’t Baz gay?”

“That’s not the POINT, Micah. Jesus fucking- you kissed another girl! What am I supposed to do? How am I ever supposed to trust you again?”

“You-”

“No, shut up. Don’t speak.” I put my head in my hands, trying not to let the sniffles escape into the speakerphone. I don’t want the bastard to know I’m crying over him. “I’ve known for a long time this probably wasn’t going to work.” Which is a bold-faced lie but I’ve got to pretend like I’m not falling apart over here.

“Penny.” He sounds genuinely hurt, and I feel a pang of regret in my chest. No, more than just a pang. A tidal wave. A whole fucking ocean of pain, regret, disbelief, and anger.

“Penny. Penny. Is that the only thing you can say? Penny? Trying to remind yourself of the girl you had back home?”

“Had?”

“Yes, Micah. Had.”

And I hang up the phone with a vengeance.

He calls back, of course. Several times. I wouldn’t expect anything less. But as it filters into midnight… 1 am…. The calls slow and eventually stop, leaving me staring at the phone as the lit screen slowly drains the battery to dead.

Just like my relationship, apparently.

Shit. 


End file.
